Optigan

Probably not. The earliest design concept for the Optigan was a small organ containing something like an Edison Cylinder. When the keys were pressed, they would push down needles onto the audio tracks. This proved to be completely unstable, though, so the focus shifted to optical means. It’s doubtful that any of these prototypes still [...]

Possibly. Although Mike does not remember ever holding onto any proto discs (and his entire disc archive was thrown in the trash a few years ago), I’ve had one report of a prototype Optigan “Cello” disc. The owner claimed to have acquired it from the Opsonar R&D department in the mid 70’s. It seems to [...]

Apart from the test discs, the discs that were produced under Opsonar are the hardest to get ahold of. These are:

Guitar Boogie
Champagne Music
Gospel Rock
Swing It!
Vox Humana
Cathedral Organ
Polka!
Mazurka!
Country Sunshine
Down Home
Country Waltz
New Orleans Blues

There were several different models of Optigan to choose from, ranging in price from about $300 to $500. As for how much they’re worth now, I suppose their value is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve seen functioning Optigans change hands for as little as $5 to as much as $600. An average price [...]

First, you should check the Optiswapit forum located on this website. Failing that, you should regularly do searches for “optigan” and “optigon” on eBay. Another potential online source is usenet groups such as rec.music.makers.marketplace. If all else fails, put an ad in our local classifieds, not under the “Music” section but under the “Garage sale” [...]